Center of my life
by McGrey'sAnatomy
Summary: Meredith and Derek are parents and surgeons. How can they cope with both jobs? What's the center of their life? Please R & R!
1. A young lady

_N/A: The sequel for How can a knock out... is finally here! _

_If you haven't read that fic by now, you could try, but you can enjoy reading this sequel even if you don't. _

_I had two story lines for this sequel and I chose the option readers voted for. I also re-wrote the first part and made a few changes.  
_

_From now on the updates should be more frequent for this fic. I have to say I am a little nervous about this sequel, because I hope you will find the story at least as interesting as the previous one._

_Ella will be my Beta. Thank you so much, Ella!_

_--_

**A young lady**

Life was beautiful. The weather was warm and the view was breathtaking. Derek breathed in the fresh September air. He shut the door and locked his car, hurrying to enter the park.

Derek forged a path between young couples, children, parents and grandparents and made his way to the lake. They had their own garden home, beautiful and private, but this park was their favorite place. It was the park where nearly 9 years ago he met his wife and her daughter; the place where he got knocked down by Meredith's clumsiness and Sandy charmed him with her friendly spirit. This was the park where he fell in love at first sight for the first and only time.

The lake was glistening in the evening's light, its bank crowded with people admiring the water and children throwing rocks in it. When Jessie was 14 months old, shortly after taking her first steps on her own, she made her mother fall in the lake and get soaking wet. Derek laughed at that thought. He looked at all the people gathered on the bank, trying to recognize some familiar faces.

As usual, he was the last one joining his family at these gatherings and the lake was their meeting place when he or Meredith was getting off late from hospital. He took out his phone and dialed Meredith's number.

"Hey, Derek!" Meredith greeted him with a laugh. "Where are you?"

"That's what I should be asking you," Derek chuckled. "It looks like you started the party without me."

"We are at the playground," Meredith answered, breaking into laugher again. "Meet us here," she said and the line went dead.

Derek shook his head, smiling, but he was slightly jealous of the fun they were having without him. He took a path, walking quickly. This was the path with maple trees; the path where on a Sunday morning, Scott made his first steps on his own.

So many memories, precious and unforgettable.

The path with the maple trees led straight to the playground area, so Derek was there shortly after Meredith hung up on him.

Squeals, weeping, shouts and laughs made this place the noisiest in the whole park, probably in all of Seattle. Derek chuckled, thrilled with that music.

"Look at me, daddy!" A little girl shouted excitedly.

Derek recognized Jessie's voice. At the age of 6, Jessie was a petite girl, with golden curls and blushing cheeks. Derek watched her, mesmerized. In her baby blue dress, which was very fancy for the playground, Jessie was playing soccer with four other girls, around her age.

"David Beckham would be jealous of you if he saw you!" Derek shouted back. Jessie stopped running for a moment, giggling, excited to hear the name of her favorite soccer player. "Where are the others?" he asked her.

"Mommy is playing with Scott in the sandbox!" Jessie answered panting, without pausing to talk to her father.

"And Sandy?" Derek asked.

Jessie stopped and stared at him with a guilty smile. "I don't know," she answered, giggling and running after the ball again.

Derek narrowed his eyes, unpleased with her answer. He turned and headed to the sandbox, which was not far from the field where Jessie was playing football. As the sandbox came into view, Derek also noticed Meredith looking at him; apparently, she had overheard the conversation between Derek and Jessie, especially the last part.

Meredith came out of the sandbox, shaking off the sand Scott had covered her clothes and hair with. "Hey." She met Derek halfway and wrapped her arms around him as she leaned in to kiss him.

"Hey." Derek cupped her face and kissed her softly on the lips, forgetting his displeasure for a moment. "What did he do to you?" he asked her, amused.

"He tried to brick me in his building." Meredith giggled, tilting her head towards Scott. The 4 year old boy was digging and building something in the sand, very focused on his work. White sand was sparkling between his dark curls and on his face and clothes.

"Are you trying to make a tunnel and come out at the other side of the planet?" Derek asked him, laughing.

"I don't want to get lost." Scott rolled his eyes innocently.

"Ok, then take it easier with the digging." Derek laughed. He wrapped his arm around Meredith's waist and kissed her temple. "Where's Sandy?" he asked her casually, hiding his impatience.

"Uh… she's somewhere around here with some friends," Meredith answered, not looking at him.

"Some friends, huh?" Derek rolled his eyes. "Hey Scotty, where's Sandy?"

Scott looked up, around him and then back down to the sand. "With Robert," he said, pointing with his finger ahead, toward a path.

Meredith was already clutching his arm, as Derek followed Scott's directions. His hands rolled in fists and his arms started shaking. Sandy, his beautiful 12 daughter was resting her head on a boy's shoulder, giggling and talking with him on a bench.

Meredith held him as he took a step in their direction and dragged him to a bench near the sandbox. "Calm down, Derek." Meredith tried to keep her voice light and cheerful.

Losing his balance, Derek had to comply and followed Meredith to sit down on a bench. "You knew about this," Derek muttered anxiously, glaring at Meredith. "How can you allow something like this to happen, Meredith?" He raised his voice as the anger overflowed.

"Nothing is happening, Derek." Meredith hardly kept her voice calm after Derek's outburst. "There's nothing wrong with this. She's just learning about love; kissing a boy is part of this lesson. Besides, they are in a public place so nothing inappropriate will happen. I have her firmly under my supervision.

"This won't stop them from moving further when they are alone somewhere private," he muttered glaring at the young couple.

"Derek, please be more open-minded about this. You were their age once too." Meredith tried to lighten his mood a little bit and make him see the cute moment from their daughter's perspective.

Derek turned his gaze on Meredith with an obvious reproach in his eyes. "I _was _their age, but at _their_ age I had other preoccupations."

Meredith wrapped her hands around his arm, leaning against him and kissing him softly on cheek. "You must have been a very cute geek when you were Sandy's age."

"Ha-ha." Derek laughed sarcastically, but he also brought both arms around her waist, holding her closer to him. "What were you doing at Sandy's age?" he asked her.

Meredith looked up at him with an innocent smile. "You wouldn't want to know," she confessed. In the next second, she felt his arms falling from her body and saw his face tensing. "Not that." Meredith laughed, slightly smacking his arm. "I was 16 when I lost my virginity."

"Really?" A crooked smile grew on his lips as he heard that.

"Are you impressed?" Meredith asked him with an eyebrow arched suggestively- kind of smirking at him.

Derek chuckled and shook his head. "I lost it at 15," he confessed with a smugly smirk.

Meredith bit her lip to suppress a laugh. "You must feel very proud of yourself."

Derek narrowed his eyes, offended. "I was a geek so yeah... I should be proud of myself."

"I was a geek too so a difference of few months it's not something that you can brag about," Meredith continued, teasing him. She wrapped her arms around him again and snuggled in his embrace.

"But she is only 12, Meredith." Derek kissed the top of her head as he spoke; this time he was calm.

"Derek." Meredith looked up at him, propping her chin on his shoulder as she looked at her daughter. "She is too young to think of ... something more than kissing."

"I wasn't kissing boys when I was her age," Derek replied, a bit sharper this time. He propped his cheek on her head as his gaze followed Meredith's.

Meredith giggled quietly. "Of course you weren't. You were kissing girls... I hope." Derek elbowed her playfully. "When I was her age, I was teaching a 10 year old to kiss."

Derek pulled back a little to look at her curiously. "I thought you said you lost your virginity when you were 16."

"I did." Meredith grinned at him. "But at the age of 12, I was already an expert at kissing."

"What's that vir...virjinity?" Scott asked them, stammering and mispronouncing the word he had overheard from his parents.

Meredith hid her face in Derek's shoulder and muffled a laugh, while Derek stared curiously at his son, checking if he was really waiting for an answer. "Not funny," Derek hissed at Meredith when he met his son's curious eyes. "Something to eat." Derek gave him the fastest answer he could come up with and shoved his wife, who was now laughing hysterically in his arms. "Not funny, Meredith."

"Seriously?" Meredith laughed, looking up at him. She shook her head, amazed by Derek's subtle answer.

"Is it good?" Scott asked with the same interest as earlier.

Derek stared at him, stunned while Meredith again burst into laughter. "No," Derek answered dryly, already not thinking about his answers.

Scott continued to stare at his parents for a moment and then shrugged, satisfied with what he had received as answer. He stood up and started kicking what he had built in sand. "Why are you doing that?" Derek asked.

Scott glanced at them. showing a familiar smile and shrugged. "I'm bored." He shook off some of the extra sand from his clothes and left the sandbox to go to his parents.

Derek was the one who received him, trying to clean up his clothes, shaking out his dark curls. Scott thanked him with his precious smile and then made himself room on bench between his parents. Derek helped him climb up the bench and the boy put his head down on his mother's lap.

"Are you sleepy already?" Meredith asked him, leaning over to look at him. Scott grinned and shook his head.

"Can we go see the lake?" he asked as he returned upright.

"Sure," Meredith answered.

"Once we retrieve one of your sisters from someone's arms," Derek grumbled to himself while he looked back to the place where he knew his daughter was. But as he did that, the panic washed over his face and made him jump on his feet. "Where is she?" he asked, alarmed, scanning the whole area.

"Who? Sandy?" Meredith asked, curious.

"Hey dad." Sandy's voice startled them. They look behind the bench to where Sandy was standing, smiling sheepishly at father, already suspecting that he had seen her with Robert. As always, to make sure that her father wouldn't get too mad of her, she came to give him one of her best hugs. "How was work?" she asked him as she was hugging his waist tighter.

Derek smiled discreetly at Meredith and shook his head. He leaned down to her and kissed the top of her head. "Work was fine," he replied smiling down at her. He put a finger under her chin and made her look up at him. "How was your day?" he asked her, sounding casual.

Sandy knew what he wanted to hear from her, but shrugged and answered nonchalantly. "It was great." She threw a long strand of hair back behind the shoulder and sprang beside her mother. She knew that if her father started on that certain subject, her mother would be her support.

Sandy wrapped her arms around Meredith's and leaned against her side. "Are we going to visit Cristina tonight?" she asked with a subtle interest, looking up at her mother.

Derek was confused and couldn't understand why Sandy look so interested in a possible visit over Cristina's house. Sandy had never showed excitement at the idea of visiting Cristina and her son, Harold.

Meredith, on the other hand, knew exactly why Sandy was asking her that and shook her head apologetically. "She has to work tonight."

Sandy sighed, disappointed, and leaned against her mother's side, hugging her, while Derek watched them carefully. He picked Scott up in his arms and kissed him. "Why does she want to go to Cristina?" he asked him in a whisper, unsuccessfully though, because Meredith had heard him. Scott shrugged his shoulders, clueless.

"Cristina promised she would show her some tapes about baby care," Meredith told him.

"Why would she want to watch tapes about baby care?" Derek raised an eyebrow, suspicious.

"You're being ridiculous now, Derek." Meredith glared at him.

"I still want to become a doctor." Sandy pouted, a little offended by the lack of credit that her father was showing.

Derek narrowed his eyes as he stared at them with the same suspiciousness in his glare. "We'll go get Jessie," he mumbled as he headed towards the place where Jessie and her friends were playing.

As soon as Derek had his back turned on them, Sandy and Meredith looked at each other, smiling conspiratorially. Meredith cupped her face between her hands and leaned down to kiss her on forehead. "You and your dad are going to drive me insane soon."

"I won't." Sandy giggled, returning a kiss on her cheek. "I promise." She grinned. Meredith rolled her eyes, smiling, and took Sandy's hand, following Derek.

"I want up, Daddy." Scott grinned at his father and propped his hands on Derek's shoulders.

"Let's get you up then," Derek chuckled and lifted Scott on his shoulders, not as swiftly as he used to do it a while ago when his son was smaller. "Just until we get to the lake, ok?"

"Ok," Scott complied without a whine. "Can we catch a fish too?" he asked his father excitedly.

"We can't fish here, Scotty," Derek chuckled. "We're not allowed to fish here, but we could go hiking one of the next weekends."

"Can't wait." He leaned over his father's head to show him a grin.

With Scott on Derek's shoulders, Jessie holding her father's hand and Sandy walking at her mother's side, the family reached the lake and a breathtaking view. The sun was getting ready to set and its light was coloring the water in many tones of golden.

Derek took Scott down from his shoulders and put him back on ground. He knelt at the boy's level and brought his tiny body to lean against him, as they both looked over the water for a moment. Then he stood up, picking up a rock and threw it as far as he could over the water. Thrilled with his father's success, Scott picked up two rocks, one for him and one for Jessie. "Let's race," he told her.

Jessie folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. "I'm a young lady and I don't throw rocks," she said with pride in her voice and attitude.

Derek started laughing. "She's a young lady covered with mud and she likes to play soccer." He laughed as he looked at Jessie's baby blue dressed stained with mud same as her white sandals.

"Derek!" Meredith slapped his arm, glaring.

"Hey Jess, do you want to chase Scotty so that we can beat him?" Sandy suggested to her sister, with a mischievous smile.

"Yeah!" Jessie looked thrilled with the idea and both girls turned their evil looks toward their little brother.

"No!" Scott cried, running and hiding behind Derek.

"We're still gonna get you," Sandy warned him as she took a large step towards him. "Don't be a coward.

"Coward!" Jessie shouted with satisfaction at him and then looked puzzled at the others. "What's a coward?"

"Coward is not a nice thing to say to your brother," Derek told them. "Now play nice." He brought Scott in front and leaned to his ear. "Go play with them." But Scott frowned, shaking his head. "They're not going to beat you." The boy looked up at him, looking for his father's assurance. "Go." Derek chuckled.

Encouraged by Derek's reassurance, Scott regained his playful mood and started running, squealing, with Sandy and Jessie running right behind him.

"Hey, do not bring him back bald!" Meredith shouted after them.

"She's a young lady though." Derek laughed as he followed the children with his sight. "She idolizes Sandy."

Meredith came to his side, taking his hand and leaning against his side. "It's not such a bad thing. Sandy is a positive role model for her."

"Except for the boys chapter." Derek groaned. He kissed Meredith softly on the lips and then, still holding her hand, he sat down on the grass, bringing her beside him. Meredith stood between his legs, resting her body on his and covered herself with his arms. It felt good and warm, so she closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment, while Derek caressed the line of her neck.

"Are you sleepy?" he whispered, before he kissed her on the cheek.

"Mhm," Meredith moaned. "I feel so tired, Derek."

"Still nauseous?" he asked her.

"A little," Meredith mumbled.

"We could try get some time off from hospital. It's been a while since our last vacation."

"I really need a break, Derek." Meredith looked at him with pleading eyes.

Derek cupped her cheek and kissed her softly. "Me too. We could go visit my parents."

"Anything, just to get more sleep." Meredith kissed him back.

The light was fading and the air started to grow chilly, so Derek and Meredith gathered the children and loaded them in Meredith's car.


	2. Mother

**Mother**

The wind had started blowing harder and air felt like freezing now; it was so typical for Seattle to pass so suddenly from warm weather to a really cold spell. Meredith shivered as she came in contact with the cold air and tucked herself into her flannel jacket, while her children got out of the car and ran to the porch.

Since Derek had followed them on their way back from the park, he was soon at his wife's side, wrapping an arm around her and walking her to their house.

"I stained my dress," Jessie whined as she checked her clothes, probably for the first time that evening. "I don't like the rain," she stated, frowning.

"You should hate soccer if you like to keep your clothes clean." Derek chuckled teasingly, while he unlocked the door.

Jessie didn't answer because she was the first one who stormed inside.

"Hey! Leave your shoes by the door!" Meredith shouted after her, but it was a warning addressed to the whole family.

"How are you feeling?" Derek asked Meredith as he helped her take off the jacket.

"Better, I guess," Meredith shrugged; she propped her hand on Derek's arm to take off the boots. "It helps to not think of it and the cold air seemed to have helped me too."

"Sandy, can you take care of your sister and help her with her bath?" Derek asked, shouting after Sandy.

"Yeah!" Sandy's answer came from upstairs. "Come on, Jessie!"

"I'll take care of Scott, so you go eat something or lie down." Derek took her in his arms, caressing her cheeks lovingly.

"I ate before we left and the kids have been fed too." Meredith hugged him, resting herself in his embrace. "I'll go take a shower."

"Try a bubble bath," Derek suggested.

Meredith looked up at him, pouted. "Alone?"

Derek chuckled and kissed her softly on the lips. "Should I send Scotty to the girls or should I bring him with us?" he asked. Meredith frowned, unpleased with their choices. "I'll be all yours after I finish with him," Derek whispered in her ear, running his hand along her back, lingering lower.

Meredith giggled and pulled back from his arms, knowing that Scott was still there with them and Derek's gestures weren't proper for his age. "Go scrub him!"

Derek picked Scott up and tucked him under his arm, earning hysterical laughs. Meredith followed them upstairs and entered her bedroom.

Derek walked to the end of the hall, where one of the bathrooms was and grabbed the doorknob, pushing the door open. "Dad!" As he did that, the door slammed in his face followed by Sandy's shouts. "We're naked!" and then he heard the lock's click.

"I have to give Scott his bath. Why don't you use the bathroom downstairs?" Derek tried the door again, futilely.

"You go use that!" Sandy shouted back. "We got here first!"

"Yeah!" Jessie followed her sister, protesting.

"Oh come on!" Derek adopted a pleading tone this time, hoping he would melt them and convince them to go to the other bathroom. "He's little. It won't take me long to wash him."

"He is little, but he is the dirtiest boy his age I've ever seen. Use your bathroom, dad!" Sandy retorted. "We are in here!

Derek sighed, irritated. "Your mother is using that bathroom, so please get out now. I don't want to argue with you over _my_ bathrooms!" Derek waited, hoping he had been firm enough and Sandy would listen to him.

And he continued to wait. Then he heard the water pouring.

"Your sister is grounded," Derek grumbled, looking at Scott.

"Yay!" Scott grinned and clutched onto his father as he climbed down the stairs to take him to the other bathroom. "But I don't want a bath," he complained.

"You have to. Don't you see how dirty you are?"

"I like to be dirty. I don't like the water, Daddy!" Scott continued whimpering.

"Of course you like the water. You like it when you swim in the swimming pool and you liked it last summer when we went to the beach with Grandma and Grandpa," Derek replied.

"But I can't swim in the bathtub," the boy complained. "Don't wash my ears."

"You have to clean up everything, Scotty," Derek chuckled. "You don't want to stink."

"Jessie and Sandy stink!" Scott protested.

"They don't stink," Derek laughed, "Because they use perfume."

"That thing stinks too," Scott retorted.

They finally got to the bathroom. Derek put Scott down, laughing. "That thing kind of stinks indeed, but they still smell better than you do right now, so get inside." He showed him the inside as he turned on the lights.

In the meantime, Meredith shut the bedroom door and started stripping her clothes off on her way to the bathroom. She turned on the water, adjusting its temperature and poured in some bubble bath. She let the bathtub fill with water and walked over to the bathroom counter to brush her teeth.

In the strong light of the bathroom, Meredith frowned as she saw her image in the mirror. She put her toothbrush back in its place, not taking her eyes from her image. She ran her fingers over her cheeks, under her eyes; she looked pale and she had purple shadows under her eyes. Meredith shuddered, scarred by her own image. 'How come Derek hasn't told me how bad I look?' she asked herself. Then she felt her stomach flipping as another wave of nausea hit. She splashed cold water over her face a few times and turned it off.

Her bathtub was now almost filled with water and overflowing with bubbles. A pleasant, relaxing scent of lavender had filled the bathroom already. Meredith dimmed the lights and took one of the candles she and Derek were keeping for their intimate baths out of the cabinet. She lighted it and placed it at the edge of the bathtub. Then she turned off the water and stepped inside, moaning in pleasure as she already felt the effect of the warm water over her skin and muscles. She lay down and leaned her head over the edge of the bathtub, closing her eyes and exhaling slowly. It was silence, a complete silence, such a silence that she could feel her head throbbing in pain. Slowly the nausea faded and she drifted to sleep.

A muffled ring of a phone made her stir. She listened carefully to the sound she thought she had heard. It was indeed a phone; her mobile phone was ringing.

"Enough with my moment." She sighed as she stood up halfheartedly and stepped out of the bathtub. She wrapped a bathrobe around her, blew off the candle and walked back to the bedroom. The phone was still ringing and she heard it in her bag. She fumbled after it and flipped it open as she found it.

"Hey, Mer!" Addison's cheerful voice greeted her. "Are you busy?"

"Not anymore," Meredith grumbled; she crawled into the bed and sat in the middle, tucking her legs beneath her. "We spent some time at the park and now we're cleaning ourselves up. How are you?"

"Big, heavy and tired," Addison groaned.

"I feel the same, except for the big and heavy part." Meredith giggled.

"You should have told me you were going to the park. I would have sent Josh with you guys! He drove me insane with that idiotic PlayStation. He likes to have the volume turned to maximum," Addison stated and sighed, sounding exhausted.

"I have three, Addie, and yours would have sent me straight to a hospital bed." Meredith groaned. "Where's Mark anyway?"

"He's on call tonight. Oh and speaking of number three," Her voice became thrilled. "Izzie made me a scan today."

"Today? Didn't you have the appointment next week?" Meredith asked, confused.

"I did, but the baby has been kicking a lot lately and really bad, so Izzie and I decided to check what's going on in there," Addison said. "I'm scared, Mer," she said, but she sounded rather amused than scared.

"Why?" Meredith was now really confused.

"Mark wasn't there with me," Addison replied.

"Ok, so? Is something wrong with the baby?" Meredith asked, suddenly worried.

"No, no," Addison giggled, hurrying to clear that up. "I'm carrying twins, Mer! Girls!" she squealed in the phone, making Meredith pull away from it wincing. "Mark's going to freak out."

"Tell me about," Meredith giggled. "Congratulations, Addie! I know how much you wished for a girl. But how come you didn't see the second baby before? You're nearly 6 months along with the pregnancy."

"Oh you know how it happens. The second baby is smaller, but it looks good and their heartbeats sound in unison; that's why neither of us noticed there was a second heartbeat. I'm so happy, Mer!"

"I know." Meredith smiled, honestly happy for her friend. "Don't worry about Mark. He still has some weeks left to get used to the idea."

"He has to get used to it. Now I'm a little worried about Izzie," Addison said, sounding concerned.

"About your pregnancy?" Meredith asked knowingly.

"Yeah. She's had 3 miscarriages so far. I don't think I did the right thing when I agreed to have her as my doctor. It must be terribly difficult for her."

"I'm sure it is," Meredith answered. "But she would have felt even worse if you had avoided her."

"That's true," Addison sighed. "I talked to her today about a surrogate mother for their baby. She and Alex can have babies, but she can't take the pregnancy to term."

"That's a good idea. I told her about it too. What did she say this time?" Meredith asked.

"She's still has doubts. She wants to feel and experience everything with the baby."

"I understand her perfectly," Meredith sighed. "But nothing compares with the first moment when you hold your baby in your arms."

"I was thinking..." Addison meant to say something, but paused, hesitating. "No, never mind."

"What is it?" Meredith asked, curious, not wishing to let go.

"It was a stupid thought." Addison laughed, sounding embarrassed. "Now..."

"Tell me, Addison!" Meredith cut her off, determined to find out whatever that thought was.

Meredith could hear her sighing. "Maybe she would find it comforting if ... if the surrogate mother was a person close to her."

Meredith was left speechless. She hadn't thought about that. "But... but you're pregnant already." She stammered.

A short silence fell between them before Addison found the dare to speak again. "I'm not her only friend," she said, barely audible.

"Me?" Meredith asked with a low voice. Her? A surrogate mother for Izzie's baby?

"Or Christina," Addison added hesitantly.

"I don't know what to say," Meredith muttered. "I haven't thought about this."

"It's a lot to think about, I know, so... it was just a thought anyway; a silly thought. Now tell me, what's wrong with you?" Addison changed the subject swiftly.

Meredith sighed and forgot for the moment of Addison's suggestion. She lay on her back, holding a hand over her stomach. Now that Addison asked, Meredith could feel again the fatigue and the nausea. "I think I need a break, Addie; at least from work."

"Then take the day off tomorrow. Stay home and sleep as much as you feel you need to. Tomorrow is a school day so you'll have the children away the whole morning. I'm sure the Chief would agree," Addison suggested.

"It sounds tempting," Meredith muttered sleepily.

"It's tempting and do it. Now I gotta go. I heard my little monster in his room so I have to go check on him."

"Ok," Meredith smiled. She knew how hard to control Josh was and she often sympathized with Addison; she already had 3 children. "Congratulations, Addie for the babies!"

"Thank, Mer! I'll talk to you tomorrow. I really have to run and check on him now; I think I hear bangs from the next room," Addison said in hurry.

"Hurry up and tie him down." Meredith giggled.

"I wish it could be that easy," Addison laughed. "Bye, Mer!" Meredith didn't have time to reply because the line went dead.

She put the phone aside and closed her eyes, relaxing. _'It could have been worse'_, she thought, remembering Addison's struggles with her son.


End file.
